Book One- Darkness & Dawn
by J.Smith42
Summary: After losing everything, Anton Linea Veritas takes on the mantle of the famed "Warden of Dawn" to fight for justice. Coming from a shadowy past, Elijah Longfield discovers that there is much more at stake than his freedom. Follow Anton and Elijah as their paths intertwine, leading them towards a single fate. (OC characters)
1. Prologue

He looked me straight in the eyes as I drove Dawn through the center of his chest. On his face, was a look of bewilderment...as if he did not expect me to run the blade through him? He coughed, trying to utter some last words and perhaps...an apology. I quickly pulled the blade out, watching the knight's now lifeless body fall to the floor. Around me lie the bodies of the Rune Knight's fellow brother knights. Blood covered the walls in a pattern similar to stars in the night sky. Five people, including myself, walked into the guildhall. Only one would walk out.

My name is Anton Linea Veritas. I was born into a humble family of the famed "Guild of the Morning Sun". I am twenty-seven years old and I was pegged to be the youngest wizard to ever join the Council. My parents saw that I had an affinity for magic at a very young age and decided to foster this curiosity.

At fourteen, I had mastered Nullification, Heavenly Body, and Arc of Embodiment magic. I had quickly risen through my guild's chain of command. At eighteen, I briefly served in the Rune Knights dark guild hunting squads before being bestowed the honor of Council Representative for my guild. By that time, I was a fully recognized S-Class mage, was a master of Arc of Time magic, and was the only wizard alive to be conferred the title of "Peerless Swordsmanship Specialist". Though I could have became guild master, I decided not to pursue the matter out of respect for the current guild master.

Things began to go downhill after my installment as guild rep. A Councilor had grown jealous of my powers. I defeated his son to get my S-Class rank, and he was still sour about it. I could tell in the way he looked at me. The permanent sneer of disdain he had on his face when he looked upon me. I never pushed the issue…until something happened.

One quiet night, I had found myself unable to sleep. Like any other sleepless night, I had went down to the library, which was just a few paces away from the guild building's entrance. In my spare time, I had improved upon my knowledge using Memory magic to master the elements. I had kept the practice to myself, since seeking power merely for power's sake was against my clan's tenets.

There was a knock at the door. It was not soft like most knocks are, but one of authority and power.

"This is Rune Knight Commander Renaldi. By Council mandate, Guild Master Armin Blechre is ordered to come with us to stand trial for murder."

In two steps, I was at the door. I opened it to find spears aimed at the doorway. Rune Knights had their swords drawn alongside wizards who had their magic at the ready. They lowered them as soon as they recognized me.

"Representative Veritas," the Knight Commander bellowed. "Is your guild master here?"

"No," I replied. "Let me see this mandate you speak of." The Knight Commander slightly bristled up and handed me the sealed scroll with the Magic Council Emblem on it. I broke the seal and read over the document a few times before rolling it back up.

"Why are Council members putting him on trial now?"

"We have reason to believe that he was the perpetrator in the murder of another council member." The Knight Commander attempted to step forward, but bumped into a barrier. I could feel myself uttering the incantations in my head until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Anton," my guild master said to me with a tired look on his face, "it's alright." He walked past me and into the assembled throng of onlookers that had stepped out of their homes. After they cuffed him, the group of Rune Knights and Council members blinked out of existence.

I did not attend the trial. In fact, my representative status was revoked and my S-Class ranking was being contested because I cheated. Because of that, I was denied entry to the nullification ceremony. The last time I saw him was at his execution.

The Council murdered him. He was wrongfully accused for a crime he did not commit. Slowly, people began to leave the guild. Rune Knight patrols seemingly began making their rounds past the clan building. After a few months, I found myself being the only person left in the clan. My S-Class status was revoked and was currently under surveillance by the Council. They wanted to add me to the Dark Wizards list.

My life was effectively over. The Council and the Rune Knights had destroyed my reputation, my guild, and everything I stood for. The only thing I had to my name was my magical abilities, which numbered thirteen in powers, and my peerless swordsmanship ranking. After everything finally died down, the Council quietly sent four of their best Knight Commanders to end me.

Five walked into the guildhall, but only one would walk out.

"Anton," the commander at the front of the group yelled, "you can make this easy on yourself if you just surrender to us. We'll make it as painless as possible."

"You don't get it do you," I said finding the courage to summon one of the most powerful sets of armor to ever exist.

"You've taken everything from me. You took my clan away from me, killed my guild master, and destroyed my reputation." The white chainmail armor of legend, supposed forged from the center of a dying star and cooled in the blood of gods finished materializing on me as the founder's sword Dawn took it's rightful place in my right hand.

The knights threw everything they had at me as I laughed a maniacal laugh. The guildhall was engulfed in fire as the knights all focused their powers on me.

"You fail to realize that you have awoke a sleeping giant, one…that shows no mercy for the likes of you!"

As I yelled this, I flew forward towards the first knight and cut him in half before he could even blink. The second knight attempted to nullify my magic until I picked him up off the floor and slammed him into the nearest wall. The third and fourth knight circled me like lions circling a mark.

"Do you realize who you're fighting?" one of them asked as he laughed. "I single-handedly killed the leaders of the Fallen Oaks dark clan. My friend behind you used to be a member of the Brotherhood of Fire before he joined the Rune Knights."

Before the bragging knight's friend could finish his sentence I spun Dawn with all my might, bathing the room in holy light. One of the knights took the bait and charged straight towards me. I sidestepped him and lopped his legs off in one turn before pointing my blade at his friend. In vain, he charged towards me with his blade. I purposely let my powers wane, just to give him a fair chance.

He thrust his sword forward, and instead of going in for a killing strike, I sidestepped him. He spun on his heel, unleashing a blast of fire magic before I could block. I barely jumped out of the way before the flames hit the side of the guildhall, lighting the aged wood. I flicked my right hand, knocking the sword from his hand. Trying to get away, he tripped on his cape falling to the floor. In a feeble attempt to reach for the sword, I banished it to another dimension.

"You're not leaving this room alive," I said slowly advancing towards him as he began crawling backwards towards the wall.

"Keep crawling," I sneered. "Crawl to your death." I sheathed Dawn and waited for the knight to make his move.

"You…you d-don't ha-have to d-d-do this. P-please…I'm be-begging you."

"Did my master beg and grovel for mercy like you're doing now? Rune Knights are supposed to be strong and stout. How can a little worm like yourself represent the will of the Council." I got as close to the knight's face as I could before I pricked him with my blade. He began screaming as I got up and watched him burst into flames.

I looked at the final knight who I had thrown against the wall. He was standing in the middle of the guildhall looking at me blankly. His blade wasn't even raised to the attack position.

He looked me straight in the eyes as I drove Dawn through the center of his chest. On his face, was a look of bewilderment...as if he did not expect me to run the blade through him? He coughed, trying to utter some last words and perhaps...an apology. I quickly pulled the blade out, watching the knight's now lifeless body fall to the floor. Around me lie the bodies of the Rune Knight's fellow brother knights. Blood covered the walls in a pattern similar to stars in the night sky. Five people, including myself, walked into the guildhall. Only one walked out.

The knight who had just lost his legs just moaned in pain. Our eyes met each others. In his eyes was true fear. His mind was focusing on his family. I walked over to him and out Dawn on the floor beside me and pulled out my dagger.

"I didn't know," he said. "I was just doing my-"

"-your job," I interrupted. "You do not seem like the others. It would be in your best interests to walk away from this life while you still have breath in your lungs." I walked out of the guildhall before he could say anything else.

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	2. Chapter 1- Curiosity (Anton's POV)

Chapter One: A Chance Encounter

It had been about three years since I lost everything. As a fugitive, I couldn't openly walk amongst society. My face was plastered everywhere on papers. The Council was offering two million Jewels for my capture. With just a few manipulations using Arc of Embodiment magic, I had managed to hide most of my features. Dawn was always within reach as was the Armor of Dawn. I also kept my own stash of weapon in an old cave I used to train in.

In those three years, I did many things. I kept tabs on the Council and their forces. I will always believe that my master knew something, which was why he was framed and then executed. When I wasn't spying, I was putting my powers to good use by hunting down dark mages. The Purges had failed to wipe out the dark wizard threat, I had took it upon myself to deal with the threat directly. When I wasn't fighting, I was moving from town to town.

It was during the morning that I found myself in the town of Blavendale. It wasn't modernized like the rest of the other towns in the area, but I remembered it from my childhood. Oddly enough, the normally filled streets were empty. As I walked further into the town, I could feel something...as if something in the area was off. I could hear teleportation magic and muffled conversation.

Suddenly, I could feel an eerie breeze pass through. This was the doing of wind magic. I removed the concealing charms on Dawn and let the armor materialize underneath my robes. Something was happening, and if Rune Knights or the Council was involved, I'd have to take a look at it. It took a bit of climbing, but I finally found a vantage point.

Surrounding a young boy, probably sixteen or seventeen years of age, were six S-Class Council mages. One of them was slashing the boy repeatedly, which brought up dust concealing the rest of the mages' identities. After a few last strikes, the mage which I recognized as being Zealot Grimoire requiped his magic shotgun and fired a shot at the boys chest. I flinched, and turned away waiting for the kill confirmation.

When I looked up, I saw something the likes of which I had never seen. From the hole in the body emerged the boy unscaved. He let loose a blast of wind magic, splitting Zealot from the waist up. The twitching upper half of his body landed right at the foot of a female mage wearing the coat of the Rune Inquisitors. His death rattle wasn't quiet, but instead a scream...a loud blood curdling scream which still rang in my ears after the event.

The boy used a dark Ecriture, something that should be impossible for one his age. It was a teleport, which he used to move himself back a few feet before taking off at a dead sprint towards the center of a town.

The other surviving mages took off after him. As the lead group of three mages passed by me, I decided to drop in front of the lagging group.

"Out of our way!" the female shouted at me. Her buff male counterpart cracked his knuckles in anticipation for a fight.

"You mean to tell me we're just attacking mages without warrants?"

"Are you with the Council?" she asked.

"I'm not, but I know you are Josselyn Praxitus." The female who I was talking to was Josselyn Renee Praxitus of the Purple Sphinx guild. Her purple and gold trimmed armor and cape were very distinct pieces of apparel, which were only used by the Purple Sphinx. She had brunette hair which fell past her shoulders, slightly curling at the ends.

The brutish man beside her was none other than Jackal Roseveil. He was the enforcer for guild Titan's Fist, whose members were notorious for their prowess in Growth magic. His eyes had a somewhat lively look to them, which was somewhat obscured by his brown hair getting in the way. I've heard whispers of his special abilities.

"Take off the robes," Jackal demanded. Josselyn raised her hands, prepared to shoot her bolts at me.

"Or what? I could kill the two of you without even thinking about it."

"Just do it you crazy old man," Jackal demanded.

"Whatever you say then…" I mumbled throwing the robe off. The glowing white chainmail and plate armor made them gasp. As my concealment charms deactivated, they instantly knew who I was and how much glory they would receive for apprehending me. Josselyn took her chances and fired a powerful barrage of lightning which I deflected with Dawn, hitting her and knocking her unconscious. Jackal turned to her and looked back at me angrily.

"You're going to pay for that!" he yelled growing in size. I took a few steps back to keep from getting smashed from his enormous size, eight meters in all. With his right hand, he swept in my direction, wiping out all the buildings in its path and carving a line in the ground where I was standing a few seconds ago. As I ran away from the town, he took chase. Coming to a clearing, I decided to go toe to toe with him.

With each slap, I dodged out of the way. I deflected most of his stomps with Dawn. His arms grew level with the ground, punching and slapping as I deflected each hit. I could slowly feel my strength draining as each attack hit harder and faster. I began silently muttering the incantations I had wrote myself hoping for something to change. As the attacks became blurs, everything around me slowly became brighter as I took on the avatar form of the original "Warrior of Dawn".

I ran straight up Jackal's right leg, past his shoulders, and into the sky above him. I flew up as high as I could, watching as Fiore became a speck of land below me. Time and space around me ceased to exist as I flew further up into the sky. I could feel my body passing through the Anima as I began to reach Edolas; however, it wasn't my destination.

I flew back down at the furthest point in Edolas. I was basically free falling at such a speed that everything around me was nothing but a blur. My eyes had already homed in on Jackal, who was too cocky to realize that I was about to kill him. I pointed Dawn towards Jackal and let the Warrior's avatar guide my blade. As Fiore rushed to greet me, it only took a few second before my blade did its job.

Dawn penetrated Jackal's titan neck at such a speed that I drove straight through him and ended up impaled in the ground. Jackal's titan body simply crumpled into the crater that Dawn's strike had created. His head dropped in first, followed by the rest of his body. Blood spewed all over the ground, turning the river a sickening shade of crimson. My white armor, through the shower power that emanated off of it, remained pearl white with the blood just evaporating off of it. The force of the impact had an emulsifying effect on his bone, reducing them to a mushy like substance.

I ran back as fast as I could, following the trail of destruction caused by the boy and the Knight Inquisitor. Smashed houses and bodies of dead civilians peppered the streets. Papers from books flew through the air as some of the houses were nothing but ashes in Seraph's wake. Getting close to the location, I discovered the body of Gust Everspell from the Raging Winds guild. Even with his mastery of Earth and Wind magic, he was bested by someone nearly a quarter of his age. I shut his eyes with my hands before making my way down the last street and into the town center.

All of the destruction led up to the Shemsaki Inn, a three story structure combining modern architecture with an Old World flare. Bodies of Rune Knights lay mutilated at the entrance. The auras around their body and in the area and general were tainted by an evil, one that reeked of times gone by. The Rune Knights who had survived could only look into the distance, most likely stunned by whatever evil they had seen lay waste to their brothers and sisters in arms. One of the knights stumbled towards me mumbling "kill me" before falling on his hands and knees crying and shaking in fear. Mustering all of my strength, I opted to blast the door and the surrounding wall to dust instead of opening it.

Standing inside was the Knight Inquisitor and one of the only surviving members of her squad. Standing behind Seraph was Silas Perish, a male wizard who specialized in reflective and absorptive magics along with sword wielding. He was a lot older than I and still looked like the presumptuous prick I remembered in my childhood. In front of him was the Knight Inquisitor, who had just finished constructing a cage of light magic to capture the boy. She turned around after Silas pulled his sword and tapped her on the shoulder.

The stunned look on her face accurately mirrored what I was feeling. After all this time, she had become a Knight Inquisitor.

"I see you still haven't perfected you Light Barrage's form," I said playfully as I sheathed my sword.

"You know Veritas?" Silas asked taking a defensive stance in front of Seraph.

"Yes, I do." she began, "we used to be in the same guild."

"Silas, I am perfectly capable of communicating to Knight Inquisitor Sunset without your input." I assured. "In the case that you keep talking, I'll take a few seconds to cut your tongue out with one of these steak knives on the floor." Silas attempted to rush forward, but was stopped short by Seraph.

Typical Seraph. She indeed used to be a member of my guild. Being about two years younger than I, her parents decided to leave the guild along with everyone else after the...issues I mentioned happened. Her slender build was slightly accentuated with muscles built up from thousands of hours training. If I was correct, her selected path of mastery included light and nullification magic on top of her martial arts skills. Her Inquisitor jacket bore the insignia of the Elite Hunters on the right shoulder. Standard Council symbol with an abyssal rune around the edges with a flaming blade down the middle…

"Is your patch personalized?" I asked.

"Ah, you noticed. Matter of fact, it is." she replied.

"My dear, as much as I'd love to keep chatting and remembering the past, I'm going to have to ask that you release the boy. You never showed your warrant."

"The Chairman waived it. The boy murdered a squad of Rune Knights three years ago for no reason."

"If I know Rune Knights-"

"Oh, come off of it Anton," Seraph yelled. You think all Rune Knights are evil after what happened."

"Can't you see?" I said trying to reason with her. "Just look at the boy. This is not a cold hearted killer. He's just young for crying out loud. You want to kill him for not being able to control his powers?"

"I don't want to kill him Veritas and you know that, so don't act like I want to. I have been given orders to nullify him permanently...something that I don't take very lightly. I don't celebrate the fact that I have to do this."

"I'm guessing that's what you told the fifty-two wizards you've already nullified," I said unsheathing Dawn.

"Are you blind?" she barked pointing outside. "He literally broke every single one of those Rune Knights out there! Some of them have their spines protruding from their mouths. Others are missing limbs. Those that didn't die are most likely going to have their memories altered and then...EVEN THEN the horrors of today are going to be imprinted in their minds as long as they walk this Earth."

"You pushed him to it Seri…"

"Don't call me that."

"Just...just let him go. He needs to be trained, not slaughtered. You of all people should understand the stigma attached to being-"

"Don't you-"

"-of being magic sensitive." Silas could only stand, somewhat stunned, taking all of this in. By this time, Josselyn stumbled inside and propped herself up with a piece of wood. "How would you feel if I killed you all those years ago for your lack of control."

"He. Cut. A. Man. In. Half." she spat. "I'm not going to stand here arguing with you. Let me nullify him and I'll act like you were never here." With this comment, Silas got in front of her. His silent protest was probably met with one of her blank stares, which he took as a cue to move away.

"If anyone is going to be doing the nullifying, it's going to be me." I declared. "Do you actually think your mastery of magic is going to protect you from me? I wear the armor of one of the greatest warriors to ever live. This very blade in my hand has toppled empires and brought entire civilizations to their knees. You WILL let him go, or I will destroy every single one of you without a second thought."

"If that's how it's going to be, then I'm sorry old friend." Seraph said bringing her hands up to summon spheres of light. I simply nodded in reply and brought Dawn up to attack position. For a few moments, no one moved…and I honestly wish I didn't have to. Her blonde hair and piercing blue eyes brought back feelings that she knew I had for her.

Silas made the first move, which surprised Seraph and I. He spun his rapier and cutlass viciously. Every slash I made only delayed his onslaught. No matter how I struck at him, he somehow managed to dodge it. I had to do a lot of wrist action to even lock blades with him.

"Never expected this did you!" he bragged as we struggled against each other's blades. Silas released, jumping out of the way to allow Seraph a clear shot. She unleashed her Light Barrage spell, which Dawn decided to absorb instead of reflecting. Silas came back at me harder this time. He was indeed a swordsman of equal training to me, or at least I thought he was. Josselyn feebly fired a bolt of lightning at me which somehow hit Silas. He didn't cry out or anything; instead, he used the energy to blast me back. I could barely stay on my feet as the momentum of the blast brought me down to one knee.

"You're one tough piece of garbage Silas." I coughed.

"For being so dangerous, they should lower your bounty to match with your shitty skills," he retorted. "I'm going to enjoy watching the Council get rid of you."

"I knew you didn't have the balls to do it yourself you Council lapdog." Silas couldn't take the insult and charged forward once again. The rage was getting to him since his attacks started getting sloppy. Josselyn and Seraph fired countless blasts into the whirling vortex of steel that Silas and I had become.

"WHY...WON'T...YOU...GIVE UP!" he shouted as the inn started to come apart from the clash of powers going on within it.

"UNLIKE YOU...I LIVE FOR THINGS MUCH MORE VALUABLE THAN FAME AND GLORY!"

In that one sentence, I saw my chance. The words hit hard enough to break his concentration and smash his ego. For one moment, just once, his blades lost a fraction of their ferocity. As soon as we locked blades, I slid Dawn straight through Silas's rapier and down his cutlass. In one continuous motion, I cut his right hand off, swung Dawn in a circular motion over my head, and cut his left hand off.

Silas screamed as the blood squirted from his hands. He just stood there as the blood just squirted everywhere. Seraph and Josselyn stopped with their magic and could only watch in horror. Dawn began burning white hot. I placed my blade over his wounds, causing tears to well up in his eyes from the pain. The sound of sizzling flesh and its smell did nothing to take my attention away from the task at hand.

I took Silas by his neck and forced him on his knees before me. He looked up at me as I cleaned Dawn before sheathing it. Seraph knew what I was going to do and advanced towards me begging me not to.

"Not him, please not him. Not like this." I only looked at her as the barriers began going up around me. She was sobbing now and Josselyn was weakly hitting at the barrier. In accordance with the ritual, I put gloves over my hands to protect myself. After that, I put my hands over his ears and began chanting.

"_By the powers granted to me, I stand here before Silas Perish to take on his burden. I, Anton Linea Veritas, channel all my power into these words. Father of All, Mother of Souls, Brother of Death, and Sister of Magic...I HEREBY NULLIFY SILAS PERISH AND BIND HIS MAGICS INTO MYSELF. I FREELY SACRIFICE A PIECE OF BEING AS PAYMENT." _

Silas...the room...everything began to shake violently. Somehow, I managed to keep my footing firm. I turned to look at Seraph, who was throwing all of her spells at my sealed barriers. Silas's head was hard to keep still in my hand, but I held on as long as I could. After what seemed liked eternity, the shaking stopped and I could feel Silas's powers entering me. After that was over, I let Silas drop to the floor. Seraph looked straight at me with tears in her eyes.

"Why Anton...why?" she asked.

"When you don't do as I tell you, this is what happens." I responded pointing at Silas. "Let the boy go, or Josselyn is next." Seraph waved her hand at the light cage, making it disappear. She went over to Josselyn and put her arm around her. She walked over to Silas and tried to pick him up off of the floor.

"He's mine," I said swiftly plunging Dawn into his chest. Seraph just looked at me with a look filled with pure hatred. Straight into my eyes she looked at me and said,

"The next time we meet, I'll kill you."

With one last angry look, the defeated Knight Inquisitor and her surviving squad member blinked from existence.


End file.
